


Homecoming

by notjoelmiller



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Amputation, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Idk not much, Major Character Injury, Spoilers, cursing, gender neutral reader, i guesss, spoilers for the first section of part 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25499767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjoelmiller/pseuds/notjoelmiller
Summary: The WLF goes after Joel. You couldn't let them go, so you go after them. Now, it's time to come home.
Relationships: Joel (The Last of Us)/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 61





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> this is kinda bad i wrote it real quick. also its midnight so there's probably mistaaaakes :)
> 
> you could say that this is part 2 of "i am angry that there is no joel content"

Lightning hit the tall trees on the nearby mountains. The thunder was deafening.

You kept pushing, though. Your legs were tired, and you kept tripping on them as you walked. Your horse was shot by a group of hunters halfway back to Jackson. From that point, you were on foot.

You were less than a mile from town by now. It was the homestretch.

Eventually, the tall walls of Jackson came into view. You nearly let out a sob. _No._ That could wait.

“Hey!” A man called. “Are you lost?”

Your eyes fell to the man. It was Jessie. He had a rifle point at you. While you couldn’t see it, you knew that in his other hand was a walkie-talkie, ready to make a call if things went dicey.

“Jessie,” you croaked. Hopefully he could hear you. “It’s me.”

_“Holy-“_ Jessie dropped his gun. Before you knew it, you were back in the gates.

Jessie must have called, because Maria came running to you. She handed you water and made sure that you were okay.

You drank all the water that she gave you before you spoke. You looked at her, nodding. “It’s done,” you whispered. “They’re dead.” Maria offered you a seat, but you shook your head. You just wanted to go home.

“What about their friends?” Maria asked. “Will they come after us?”

You licked your split lips, grimacing at the sting. “No, I took out their... leader, Isaac. It’ll take them time to get back on their feet.”

Maria furrowed her brows. “But when they do? Will they _find us?”_ Maria was clearly irritated, but you were too exhausted to care.

“When they do, they’ll be looking in Santa Fe. I left them a nice trail to pick up on. Isaac and Abby both confirmed that nobody outside of their little entourage knows about Jackson.” Maria relaxed at your words. You would have stayed longer to fill her in, but your mind was preoccupied. “Is he-?”

“He’s okay,” Maria said.

“Ellie?”

“She’s stayed with him since you left.”

You smiled. Ellie was always one to keep her promises. When you told her that you were going to Seattle, she supported you. She even offered to be by your side. You knew better, though. Someone needed to be with him. When you asked her, she swore to watch over him.

“Good,” you swallowed. “I’m going home. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  


You pulled at your clothes. They were practically suctioned to your body because of the rain. All you wanted to do was change into something warm and sleep for a day straight. You couldn’t, though. There were more pressing matters.

You sniffled as you finally reached the stairs to your house. You slowly walked up to the porch and took a moment to relish in the cover from the storm.

_You were home._

You tentatively knocked on your door. Part of you wished that he would be there, but you knew to expect disappointment. You were right; the door flew open to reveal Ellie.

“Fucking hell,” she cried. She pulled you into her arms and held onto you like a lifeline. “I was starting to get worried.”

You ran your hands up and down her back. “I know. It took me a bit longer to get back. It’s done, though. They won’t ever bother us again.” You pulled back, holding her at shoulder length.

Ellie looked tired. You could swear that there were wrinkles on her face that hadn’t been there when you left. Her black eye had healed nicely, but dark bag littered her under-eyes. Her lips were chapped and red. Chewing her lips was always a bad habit of hers.

“Ellie,” you whispered, “go back home, okay? Take a break. I got it from here.”

Ellie nodded, stepping outside. “He’s upstairs.” She planted a kiss on the back of your hand. “Good night.”

“Thank you, Ellie.”

You watched Ellie walked down the street. Once you couldn’t see her anymore, you stepped inside.

It was nearly a different home. In the dining room, the table was pushed to the side. _Bigger path,_ you thought. It was the same in the living room. There, the coffee table was completely gone, but the couch remained. What caught your eye the most was the wheelchair at the bottom of the stairs.

As you walked towards the stairs, you stripped. By the time you started heading up, you were dressed only in jeans and a tank top. It wasn’t comfortable, but it sure was better than before. You slowly made your way up the stairs.

“Ellie,” Joel called, “who is it?”

You stepped into the doorway of his work room. He wasn’t looking your way. Instead, Joel was working on a guitar. From what you could tell, he was tuning it.

Joel sat in a wheelchair, in the same place where his chair used to sit. Instead, it was pushed off into the corner of the room.

“Ellie’s going home, Joel,” you said.

You saw him tense. He gently set down his guitar. Joel took a deep breath, his shoulders trembling. His hand came up to rub his face.

You walked up to the back of his wheelchair and set your hands on his shoulders. He tensed at your touch.

“You’re home," Joel whispered.

“It’s done.”

Joel shrugged your hands off of his shoulders. “You shouldn’t have gone.”

“It needed to be done, Joel. You _know_ that.”

Joel turned his chair around to face you, and your breathing hitched. While looked better than he had when you left, his appearance still took you by surprise.

Joel had a long scar, running from his hairline to his left eyebrow. It was red and still inflamed, a nasty thing. _And there was his leg._ When you found him, his leg was the first thing that you noticed. After all, there wasn’t much left. Abby, _your blood boiled at the thought of her,_ had blown most of it off. You knew that there was no chance to salvage it, but it still hurt you when the medical staff had to amputate. 

“I woke up, after being tortured, after having my head nearly bashed in, after _losing_ my _goddamn leg,_ and you were gone.” His voice was dangerously low, “All I knew was that you were off on some revenge trip that was likely to get you killed, and I was alone.”

You knew that you would have to leave him alone if you left. It wasn’t ideal, but you had to take care of the WLF crew before they could come back for him. It was a necessary sacrifice. You trusted Ellie to be with him and console him as he adjusted.

“I needed to take care of them, Joel. You know as well as I do that she would have come to finish the job.” You shuddered at the thought, “I couldn’t let that happen.”

Joel began to cry, and you didn’t know how to react. In the years that you have known him, the man had never openly cried. The only times that he was ever willing to let go in front of you was late at night, under the cover of darkness. It was clear in that moment that he was a man broken by circumstance.

“You couldn’t have _waited?”_ He cried.

You pursed your lips and stepped behind his chair. You pushed him out of the room and across the hall to your bedroom. “Waiting would have killed you, Joel.” You sighed, stopping the chair next to your bed. “But it’s done now.”

You helped Joel out of the chair and into bed. He sat up straight and watched as you changed into one of his shirts for bed. You slid into bed next to him, letting your head fall to his shoulder.

_“We can only move on.”_  



End file.
